Water Like A Stone

A Novel

Baker & TaylorIn the aftermath of a teenager's drowning in a Cheshire countryside canal, Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James investigate strange connections between the victim and two past murder cases. By the author of In a Dark House. 60,000 first printing.

Blackwell North Amer

When Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid takes Gemma, Kit, and Toby for a holiday visit to his family in Cheshire, Gemma is soon entranced with Nantwich's pretty buildings and the historic winding canal, and young Kit is instantly smitten with his cousin Lally.

But their visit is marred by family tensions exacerbated by the unraveling of Duncan's sister Juliet's marriage. And tensions are brought to the breaking point on Christmas Eve with Juliet's discovery of a mummified infant's body interred in the wall of an old dairy barn—a tragedy hauntingly echoed by the recent drowning of Peter Llewellyn, a schoolmate of Lally's.

Meanwhile, on her narrowboat, former social worker Annie Lebow is living a life of self-imposed isolation and preparing for a lonely Christmas, made more troubling by her meeting earlier in the day with the Wains, a traditional boating family whose case precipitated Annie's leaving her job.

As the police make their inquiries into the infant's death, Kincaid discovers that life in the lovely market town of his childhood is far from idyllic and that the dreaming reaches of the Shropshire Union Canal hold dark and deadly secrets . . . secrets that may threaten everything and everyone he holds most dear.

Baker & TaylorIn the aftermath of a teenager's drowning in a Cheshire countryside canal, Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James investigate strange connections between the victim and two past murder cases.

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Another well written suspenseful novel with a great plot and some complicated relationships. As well there is some family tension as Kincaid and James and the kids holiday in Kincaid's home town and we meet his parents, his sister and her husband and their kids. More family connections are made thereby giving the novel an added and welcome depth. Well worth reading and recommended.

The author lives in Texas (although she once lived in England). I had the impression that she used every stereotyped UK expression, word and phrase perhaps listed in a reference somewhere. I really don't think our friends across the pond talk like that too much anymore; however, I haven't been there so maybe they do.
There was a news article just this weekend with occurrences similar to parts of this story (of course, written many years ago.)

As in her last installment in this series, Crombie takes several seemingly unrelated crimes/events and eventually brings everything together. Good mystery and good stuff with the recurring characters as we meet Duncan's family. Kit also figures prominently in the story.

B2K2rEaD
Jan 06, 2013

Difficult to get with, especially as the First Crombie book that I read.
Once in, different story - hard to put down especially as the story evolved.
Looking foreward to reading more Gemma & Kincaid !